This invention relates generally to musical instrument accessories and more particularly to an insert for a bass drum that is used to xe2x80x9cdeadenxe2x80x9d or modify the sound from the drum.
Many percussion instruments, particularly bass drums, have striking surfaces, i.e. drumheads, that vibrate to such an extent when struck that the sound produced thereby echoes and reverberates more than is desirable. Such overtones seriously reduce the quality of the sound from the drum. Consequently, in most situations, drummers would like to deaden, or dampen, the reverberation of the drumhead to produce a crisper, cleaner sound.
For years, drummers have been using various spontaneous methods to deaden the sound produced by the drums. One of these methods has been to toss loose rags or pillows inside the drum to absorb some of the sound overtones. Another method has been for the drummer to use his or her hand to directly dampen the vibrations of the drumhead. These methods have been used particularly with bass drums, which are large enough so that the inside of the drum can be easily accessed.
A bass drum is generally constructed of a cylindrical drum shell with two open ends, and at least one drumskin stretched across an open end forming a xe2x80x9cdrumhead.xe2x80x9d The circular edge of the drumhead therefore coincides with the circular edge of the drum shell. The drum is usually positioned on the floor so that the drumhead is generally orthogonal to the floor. A foot-operated xe2x80x9cbass beaterxe2x80x9d strikes the drumhead at a strike point somewhat higher than the exact geometric center of the drumhead.
There have been some patented devices directed toward such xe2x80x9csound-deadeningxe2x80x9d in bass drums. The Montano U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,898 discloses and claims a drum damper comprising cushioning means and fastening means similar to the present invention. However, Montano""s fastening means is a very specific arrangement of two straps using anchors fixedly attached to the interior of the drum shell designed for holding the cushion in compression against both the drum shell and the drumhead. In contrast, the present invention does not use straps at all because the presence of any straps or other non-absorbing material over the drum pillow serves to detract from the acoustic functionality of the drum pillow. Furthermore, Montano""s device has a contact surface that specifically covers 25% or less of the drumhead area generally below the strike point and including only a small part of the edge of the drumhead. Because the majority of the higher sound harmonics are generated at the edge of the drumhead, it would be desirable to have pillow contact, and therefore damping action, all along the edge of the drumhead.
Crago et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,376, discloses an hourglass-shaped drum pillow that is compressed between the two drumheads of a bass drum. The Crago device is specifically designed to be used only in a drum with two drumheads, and again, the pillow surface covers only a drumhead area generally below the strike point and including only a small part of the edge of the drumhead.
Arnold, Payson, and Beals et al., respectively in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,043,420, 4,338,850, and 5,107,741, disclose quite complicated dampening devices that are hinged or otherwise swing so as to make and break contact with the drumhead and thereby selectively deaden the vibrations from the drumhead at various times during play (similar to use of the drummer""s hand). These devices are difficult for the drummer to control, because they require so much attention and manipulation, and therefore are inconsistent, ineffective and less than optimal.
Because of the dual nature of the uses of bass drums, the present invention has been developed in two specific embodiments, one for live performances and one for studio recording sessions. The embodiment for live performances has been chosen as the preferred embodiment. It is believed that the qualities and characteristics of the invention will be best understood in the context of this preferred embodiment.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises two identical foam pieces that have been acoustically shaped and designed to provide optimal sound quality when properly positioned within the drum shell of a bass drum so as to contact the entire circular edge of the drumhead. The four sides will be referred to as the contact surface (positioned against the drumhead), the outer surface (positioned against the drum shell), the inner surface (directed toward the interior of the drum), and the free surface (directed away from the drumhead).
Because most drummers prefer a dampened sound resulting from drumhead coverage (drum pillow contact) of approximately 25 percent of the total area, the preferred embodiment of the present invention covers approximately 25 percent of the entire drumhead area. However, because the majority of the higher sound harmonics are generated at the edge of the drumhead (where the drumhead vibrations encounter the drum shell and bounce back), the preferred embodiment of the present invention of the permanent drum pillow has been designed to provide pillow contact, and therefore damping action, all along the circular edge of the drumhead. (Previous drum pillow designs have covered only a small part of the drumhead edge.) Furthermore, the preferred embodiment is provided in two pieces, an upper portion and a lower portion, so that any particular drummer can remove the upper portion if he or she prefers a more xe2x80x9clivelyxe2x80x9d sound from the drum.
The contact surface of each piece is generally planar and is intended to impinge against the inside of the drumhead so as to contact approximately 12 percent of the drumhead area. The outer curve of the contact surface simply follows the curve of the bass drum shell. The inner curve of the contact surface has been chosen so as to provide the requisite contact surface area. Experiments have shown that a bevel around the outer edge of the contact surface improves the fit of the drum pillow within the drum shell, particularly for drum shells with edge lips; however, it is important to keep the bevel relatively small so as not to interfere with the sound absorption characteristics of the drum pillow.
In the preferred embodiment, one or more Velcro(trademark) strips hold the pieces of the drum pillow in place inside the drum shell. Obviously, different types of hook-and-loop fasteners or even different types of fasteners, such as snaps, could be used to secure the drum pillow in place. However, it has been found that the Velcro(trademark) strips are effective while having the benefit of being easy to install while maintaining the structural and acoustic integrity of the drum shell, e.g., without drilling holes or making permanent indentations in the drum shell. In the preferred embodiment, one portion of the Velcro(trademark) fastener is applied to the interior of the drum shell and one portion is applied to the drum pillow. The drum pillow can therefore be made a temporary or a permanent installation, according to the particular drummer and situation.
Each of the two pieces of the preferred embodiment of the drum pillow is made of a single piece of dense foam to absorb higher harmonics, and each is covered with a rayon (or preferably silk) slipcover to further clean up and sharpen the sound, as well as to improve and customize the drum pillow""s appearance. Other devices, such as many of the patented devices above-mentioned, are constructed of two or more pieces, only one of which is sound-absorbing. However, it has been found that having the entire drum pillow made of dense foam shaped into the desired form, while being simple to manufacture and manipulate, provides optimal sound-absorption properties.
During sound recording sessions, in contrast to live performances, drummers and producers typically prefer a much xe2x80x9cdeaderxe2x80x9d sound from bass drums. Therefore, it is desirable that significantly more than 25 percent of the drumhead area be dampened. A first alternate embodiment of the present invention comprises a single, three-sided foam piece that has been acoustically shaped and designed to provide optimal sound quality for sound recording purposes. The geometric parameters of the sides have been carefully chosen after much acoustic experimentation focusing on sound quality and simplicity of design. The three sides will be referred to as the contact surface (positioned against the drumhead), the bottom surface (positioned against the drum shell), and the top surface.
The contact surface is generally planar and is intended to impinge against the inside of the drumhead so as to contact approximately 50% of the drumhead area. Instead of covering the drumhead edge, this first alternate embodiment covers an area of the drumhead generally below the strike point of the bass-beater. It has been shown that for optimal acoustics, the upper point of the contact surface of the drum pillow must impinge the drumhead at approximately the strike point of the bass beater. The lower curve of the contact surface simply follows the curve of the bass drum shell. Experiments have shown that a bevel around the lower edge of the contact surface improves the fit of the drum pillow; however, it is important to keep the bevel relatively small so as not to interfere with the sound absorption characteristics of the drum pillow.
The bottom surface of this first alternate embodiment of the present invention of the drum pillow is designed to mate with and fit into the curve of the drum shell. The top surface and the bottom surface are both designed to smoothly taper the drum pillow from the contact surface at the drumhead which is being stricken to the far point at the opposite drumhead or the open end of the drum shell (depending on whether there is a second drum head on the particular bass drum).